Middle Tennessee advances to title game

TROY — Top-seeded Middle Tennessee avenged a season sweep and an earlier Sun Belt Conference Tournament loss to Louisiana when the Blue Raiders eliminated the Ragin’ Cajuns from Lafayette 6-2 Saturday afternoon.

An opportunistic start on offense and a bullpen by committee sent the Raiders (42-16) into today’s 10 a.m. championship game against either Louisiana-Monroe or Western Kentucky at Riddle-Pace Field.

Middle Tennessee came out of the losers’ bracket with consecutive wins over Louisiana after the Cajuns beat them 5-4 on Thursday. The Raiders stayed alive with a 17-8 win on Friday. Louisiana ended its season 27-30-1.

MTSU coach Steve Peterson said Friday his bullpen often had the effect of pouring gas on a fire, but his pitching staff shut down the Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday. Fifth-year senior Chad Coley, who made his first start of the season, was one of five Raiders pitchers. None went more than 2 1-3 innings, but Coley, Jud Stoltz, Justin Guidry, Brett Smalley and Bryce Brentz — the nation’s top hitter and the league’s player of the year — were all effective.

Louisiana managed just four hits and stranded only four baserunners in the regionally televised game.

“It was a gutsy, gutsy performance,” Peterson said. “It started with Chad Coley. He was our freshest arm. Chad Coley has started a lot — but it’s always been in intrasquad games.

“As close as he’s ever come to a TV game is turning the TV on. But he’s a fifth-year senior. ... When he lost it, he lost it. But he set the tone.”

Middle Tennessee’s offense did, too. The Blue Raiders scored three times in the first, twice in the second and once in the third. Only two runs were earned.

“Every mistake Lafayette made we took advantage of,” Peterson said.

All six runs were charged to Louisiana starter Greg Wilborn, who lasted 2 2/3 innings. But reliever Luke Wagley kept the Cajuns in the game.

“We swing the bats pretty good and he just shut us down,” Peterson said. “We weren’t getting close. Usually, we start figuring guys out. Thank God he didn’t throw yesterday.”

Nathan Hines reached on an error to start the MTSU first inning. He went to third on a single by Stuart Meinhart and scored on Brentz’s infield single.

Brentz, who is leading the nation with a .481 batting average and is tied with Alabama’s Kent Matthes with 28 home runs, went 3-for-4 on Saturday.

“I’m just trying to keep the barrel in the zone for as long as possible,” Brentz said. “Trying not to chase at ones I shouldn’t be swinging at.”

Meinhart and Brentz moved into scoring position on a fielder’s choice. Meinhart scored on a groundout and Brentz came home on a wild pitch by Wilborn.

Meinhart’s two-out, two-run single in the second gave the Blue Raiders a 5-0 lead.

Louisiana came back with two in top of the third as Coley developed control problems. Thad Griffen singled with one out and Coley walked the next three batters and was lifted. Reliever Jud Stoltz gave up a sacrifice fly to Chad Keefer that made it 5-2, but avoided further damage.

“Our whole staff did the job,” Brentz said. “That’s a great hitting team. They really shoved us when we went down there this year. To hold them to four hits? That’s a big, big win for us.”

Justin Guidry, who pitched two innings, got some help when he gave up a hit off the top of the right-field wall to Greg Fontenot with two outs in the sixth. Fontenot tried to stretch it to a double, but Meinhart threw him out at second base.

“Stuart is a dirt-bag player,” Peterson said of his right fielder. “He has so much fun playing and he’s kind of a catalyst for us. He’s done a very good job of learning how to play this wall in a short period of time. When when we played down here in the regular season he didn’t play it that well.”

The coach also said the tournament, delayed by rain, spoke very well of the conference.

“It’s not a one-team league,” Peterson said. “We’re the co-champions with Western Kentucky and we both have to come through the losers bracket to get to the championship game. We’ve done it. Western’s trying to do it. Our league is good.”

He also credited Troy University officials for keeping the field playable with all the rain.

“If this tournament would have been anywhere else with all the rain they’ve been having, I really don’t know how they’d get it in,” he said. “We’d be playing all night.

“My hat’s off to the Troy University grounds crew. It’s difficult to be a grounds crew when you get eliminated from the tournament. They’ve done an outstanding job. That speaks well of (Troy) coach (Bobby) Pierce and the athletic director and his staff.”